Interest area: art

‘Faded Glory: a new aesthetic’ – Joint Show by Rory Turner & Brenda Reeve-Turner

Whether in the no-nonsense documentary realism of Rory’s stark black-and-white photography or the idiosyncrasy of Brenda’s heavily glazed ceramics, the current joint exhibition at the ArtHouse in Southport by Rory Turner and Brenda Reeve-Turner is a fascinating pulse-check on contemporary practice by two local artists.

Both former senior academics at the University of Central Lancashire, retirement has offered them the opportunity to refocus on their own unfilled practice rather than promoting that of others.

A lifelong passionate photographer, Rory, has always been attracted to exploiting the medium as a vehicle for archiving what is too often taken for granted.

“As a freelance photographer working in the Lake District and The Yorkshire Dales I realised that the traditional tourist postcard did not show the stunning beauty of these wild spaces and I was one of the first photographers to capture the Lakes and Dales in all their many different and spectacular moods”.

Prior to his appointment at UCLan, Rory’s entrepreneurial nature had already seen him swing into action to address the commercial drawback at source.

“I founded my own Fine Art postcard company ’Country Visions’ in the 1980’s selling over 1 million Fine Art postcards of both the Lakes and Yorkshire Dales. The postcards were sold through the English Lakes Tourist Boards, The National Trust, Fine Art Galleries and various other retail outlets”.

The success of the venture quickly secured global appeal: “I was originally sponsored by both Leica and Bronica Camera systems which lead to solo exhibitions all over the world, including London, Canada and Germany”.

In a world too often saturated with colourful imagery, Rory’s atmospheric black-and-white cameraworkharks back to an era when photography was an alchemy of light and silver: “I use a Canon 70D digital Camera with a 24-105 f/4L IS USM lens. This is a specialist lens that gives extra high definition results”.

A poignant reminder of the enduring power of simplicity, through his emotive monochromatic photographs currently on display at ArtHouse, Rory showcases the celebrated Victorian wrought-iron architecture of Southport as silhouetted urban vegetation brimming with a nuance that skillfully emphasizes the form, texture and interplay between shadow and light.

“’Faded Glory’ continues on from a project that I started whilst working on my MA seeking to visually examine the decline in our coastal resorts since the heydays of the late Victorian era through to the 1950’s-60’s. The view presented by our holiday resorts is vastly different now than it was in the past”.

By artfully avoiding the distraction of fun-loving holidaymakers, the intrusive ‘Kiss-Me-Quick’ culture of the British seaside has been replaced in Rory’s photographs by a nostalgic visual grunge aesthetic that freeze-frames the timeless elegance of an unpopulated coastline resonating with the authority of its own a silent eloquence.

In contrast, Brenda – a graduate of the prestigious Royal College of Art in London – draws upon her subsequent career in fashion to drape wet clay like fabric in order to articulate the natural undulations of seashells in her flamboyant ceramic souvenirs: “My current ceramic work looks closely at tourist ephemera and the objects and experiences that make seaside holidays so special. These objects and impressions remain with us throughout our lives and are as equally an important and treasured part of the tourist experience as the tourist gaze”.

Brenda regularly attends Southport Contemporary Art’s pottery workshops – ClayWorks – where working in clay provides her with a playground for unlimited artistic expression.

“Finding ClayWorks was just perfect, giving me the chance to develop my 3D embroidery and illustration skills in a new medium. The sessions provide excellent technical staff with professional practitioners. This experience enabled me to meet some lovely new people in my retirement. That’s a bonus isn’t it?”

Certainly not one to be missed, this collaborative display by Rory Turner & Brenda Reeve-Turner will be on show at the ArtHouse, Eastbank Street, Southport from 17^th September – 5^th October 2024.  The gallery is open Tuesday – Friday 10.00-15.00.  Saturday 11.00-16.00.

Artists from Young Blue Room invite you to discover artwork hidden in the Bluecoat’s secret garden. Inspired by the stories and architecture of their 300 year old building, the young artists have created a trail of windows through time for you to spot. Pick up a free trail sheet from their Children’s Corner to join in.

Sat 7 Sep – Sun 29 Sep, 11am – 5pm

The trail is part of Liverpool’s Neurodiversity Arts Festival with the Brain Charity. NDAF 24 is a vibrant celebration of neurodivergent talent, diverse perspectives and creative expression, dedicated to celebrating neurodiversity and providing a platform for neurodivergent artists.

Young Blue Room is the Bluecoat’s new inclusive arts group with young learned disabled and neurodivergent people aged 16-25 and is supported by the Heritage National Lottery.

Part of Heritage Open Days.

Open Sat 7 Sep – Sun 29 Sep. Tue – Sun, 11am – 5pm. Free entry.

Young Blue Room is the Bluecoat’s new inclusive arts group with young learned disabled and neurodivergent people aged 16-25.

Sat 7 Sep – Sun 29 Sep, 11am – 5pm

Over a series of creative sessions, the young artists uncovered some of the hidden stories of the arts centre by exploring their archive and spaces. This inaugural exhibition shares their experience of spending time observing the traces of history in the architecture of our building through drawing and printmaking.

This exhibition is part of Liverpool’s Neurodiversity Arts Festival with the Brain Charity. NDAF 24 is a vibrant celebration of neurodivergent talent, diverse perspectives and creative expression, dedicated to celebrating neurodiversity and providing a platform for neurodivergent artists.

Young Blue Room has been developed in collaboration with Sandfield Park School and is supported by the Heritage National Lottery.

Part of Heritage Open Days.

You can find the exhibition on the top floor of The Vide from Sat 7 Sep – Sun 29 Sep, 11am – 5pm. Free entry.

After what has proved to be a outstanding year for solo exhibitions, the ArtHouse in Southport will be playing host to Southport Contemporary Arts’ keenly anticipated mixed-classes group exhibition at the end of August.

The SCA network began in 2009 and was set up to embrace the fact that Southport is home to a host of different art practitioners working across a broad variety of disciplines.

This year’s showcase at the ArtHouse is now able to draw upon the diverse range of SCA’s current weekly taught art classes and workshops – Kaleidoscope Arts – that continues to attract a wide selection of Sefton artists and designers toits well equipped studios at ArtsLoft and ClayWorks in the town centre.

Phred Brown from Southport easily sums up its addictive merits: “I spend all day at the ArtsLoft on a Thursday and it is a real sanity saver – laughter, friendship, creativity, what’s not to like? – Love it!”

Aimed at nurturing the creative talents of the individual, although each class is introduced to the same skills, it is the way in which each artist then goes on to apply them in their own work that is important.

As Norrie Beswick Calvert, one of the SCA directors, emphasizes: “We are really proud of the developments that our students make and seeing their individuality shine through is an added bonus”.

Since its inception SCA has annually gone from strength to strength, adding the ClayWorks studio in May 2016 in response to the need for local artists who wanted to work in ceramics.  In April 2017, the suite of craft studios above ClayWorks – ArtsLoft – was set up to deliver hands-on participation across a wide range of art and craft based workshops.  In accord with its all-embracing policy to engage with as many local artists and practitioners as possible, a stair lift was added to provide full access to the first floor studio space.

Deliberately keeping the groups small and informal, the convivial classes cater for beginners, improvers and experienced creatives alike. Over the last 12 months Kaleidoscope Arts has offered regular Textiles, Throwing, Felting and Mixed Media activities in addition to specialist workshops led by professional and experienced artists from the SCA fraternity covering such activities as Book Binding.

Creative Textile student, Barbara Briddock from Crosby confirms: “I have learnt loads over the years. Brilliant class and great teacher, all very relaxing.”

Local textile artist from Formby, Jo Landy, who runs the Thursday class, confirms: “The Creative Textile class is a joy to teach – all abilities are catered for and the class members derive a great deal of inspiration and encouragement from each other. We cover all aspects of textiles including print, stitch, felt making and heat techniques and it is lovely to see new skills being learned and translated into finished pieces. Everyone works at their own pace and they continue to surprise me with very individual and quality work”.

Regular attendees, Chris Rimmer from Ainsdale and Helen Page from Southport are both unanimous in their praise for the activity: “Fabulous class, excellent tuition as well as a friendly group. A really enjoyable class” and “I look forward to Thursday afternoons, lovely company and a great teacher”.

A popular addition to the Kaleidoscope Arts’ diary is Amanda Clark-Price’s Young Creatives Club aimed at aspirational 7-15 year olds who are keen to further develop their budding artistic skills including Drawing, Painting, Printing and 3-D.

Each Friday afternoon there is also an Adult Autism Friendly Art Class led by mixed-media artist from Banks, Linda Heavon. Built around nurturing creative skills in adults that have Autism spectrum challenges, each student is supported to freely experiment using a variety of media as well as promoting positive interaction with the group as a whole.

More information about SCA’s current series of workshops and classes can be found at www.sca-network.co.uk or by emailing to arthousesca@gmail.com.

‘Create It Together’ is a celebratory exhibition and sale of work that certainly confirms the diversity and resourcefulness of these talented homegrown artisans.

SCA’s Kaleidoscope Arts Mixed-Classes Group Exhibition will be on display at the ArtHouse, Eastbank Street from 27^th August – 14^th September 2024.  The gallery is open Tuesday – Friday 10.00-15.00.  Saturday 11.00-16.00.